


Disclosure

by orphan_account



Series: centrifuge [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Kinda freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3790450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trail of baseless rumors follows Eren, what with his stormy expression, bruises, and all. Jean listens quietly and ignores him for the most part, until a pushy Instructor forces him to talk to the kid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. silence

**Author's Note:**

> I'm never safe from the snk bug at any given time and this story just kind of escaped my hands before I could stop?? Two chapters long, both written. Enjoy!

Jean has heard the rumors. There's some hard-headed kid in the Unpredictable class that keeps starting arguments in all of his classes and getting into fights after school. Whispers fly about the kid's family life being a wreck, and they say his grades are even worse. Despite all this, he's never heard anything about the kid's power.

At a school like this, it can mean one of two things: either Eren Jaeger's power is so insignificant that it isn't worth discussing; or, it's a game-changer, and the school officials are keeping it hush-hush.

While the sandy-haired youth wouldn't bet  _money_  on his choice, he's inclined towards the second option.

/ /

The first time they sort of meet is by brushing shoulders in the hallway between classes. Eren jumps back as if burned after they collide, mutters something while glaring, and rushes off. Jean scowls and picks up his papers.

The next time they meet—properly—is the next morning. Eren's head instructor pushes the brunette in front of him with a dark scowl. "Look at this kid. Fucking mess."

As Jean surveys the brunette's impressive collection of bruises and scratches, he finds that he agrees, but he's more startled to hear an instructor use such language. "Er, yes, that's true, sir."

Slamming a hand down on Eren's hair, the shorter male speaks sharply again. "I need someone his age to look after him."

The teen's eyes narrow and he snarls. "Professor Levi, I don't want to—!"

Levi promptly kicks his student in the back of the knees and hardly blinks as the brunette wheezes on the floor. Jean stares in blank shock, absently grateful for having a laid-back head instructor. "Oy. What class were you in again?"

Jean is torn between frustration at how long this is taking, and being scared for his life. The second feeling makes him answer. "Passive abilities, sir."

"Control level?"

"Eight, last examination." Levi whistles. Even Eren looks up, surprised at the impressive score. Momentarily, the sandy-haired teen preens, then the dark-eyed instructor levels his gaze and Jean snaps his back straight.

"See? You can learn a thing or two from your peers, Eren."

Eren is indignant, nearly grabbing his instructor's collar. Jean is starting to see why the two of them have been placed together in the Unpredictable class bracket. "I have control—"

"You have control  _seventeen_  percent of the time, brat. That's nothing." Levi  _does_  pull Eren's shirt, snarling at him. "Erwin's methods and mine aren't working, so I'm trying an alternate method. Be grateful I'm not kicking your sorry ass out of school."

Jean starts. Before his mouth can catch up, he blurts, "Excuse me, what?"

Levi jerks his thumb at them one at a time. "You. Hang out with him. See if his power comes out, but don't let him kill you. Got it?"

"Hell no!" He grows frustrated aloud at last. "Why would I do something so dangerous for no reason? I don't even know him."

"Is that your excuse?" The instructor glares and Jean wilts a bit. He pushes the scowling, blue-green eyed mess of teen in front, grabbing Eren by the hair and dodging when his pupil brings his leg back to try and kick his teacher in the crotch. "Kid, meet Eren Jaeger. The rest, the two of you can figure out. Good luck." With that, Levi sidles away and Eren stands there, glaring.

Jean scowls back. "What? I'm not gonna babysit you. Go to class or something."

Eren fumes. "I don't  _have_  class. That's why Professor Levi brought me here. Why do  _you_  have such an attitude? I don't even know you, remember."

 _Yeah_ , he thinks,  _but I've heard plenty of nasty things about you._  "My name's Jean." Glancing at the clock, he curses, realizing that he's missed the rest of his history class and it's already time for lunch. "Do you have any food?"

"No."

Jean sighs. "Then let's grab something on the way to the courtyard. Maybe we can talk while we eat."

/ /

They don't talk—at all.

Eren eats quietly and stares into the distance, and Jean tries his best not to fall asleep in the break hour. This weird pattern for lunch continues for around three days. The brunette stumbles out of some weird hall in the Academy, unfailingly runs into Jean for lunch hour, and sits in silence with him. On the fourth day, Levi comes by to check on them. Once he sees Jean's annoyance and the duo's lack of progress, he glares the sandy-haired teen into submission.

He sighs and  _tries_  to start a conversation, wanting to at least end his week on a positive note. "So, why are you in the Unpredictable class?"

Eren looks at him like he's shit on the bottom of his shoe. "…It's a pretty self-descriptive class title."

Jean's eyebrow twitches. "Are you always such a pain in the ass?"

The other teen shrugs. "Probably."

"Your instructor wants us to talk, so let's talk. It doesn't have to be about your powers, but I would sure as hell appreciate getting to that soon."

Eren scowls around a mouthful of cold, greasy pizza. "I don't like your attitude."

Across the table, Jean snorts. "How do you think I feel about  _yours_?"

The rest of the lunch period passes with both of them highly agitated and refusing to speak to each other out of spite.

/ /

Eren stumbles into his office after another fight with a shiner on his left eye and a scowl etched on his face. Levi just sighs, stands, and pours himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"I swear, you are a punishment from Satan's asshole itself."

His pupil's scowl runs deeper. "You aren't religious, sir. You've told me that before."

"Sure. But I firmly believe you came from the depths of a non-existent hell just to torture me." The man crosses his legs on the desk when he sits down and takes a long sip of his drink. "What the hell is all this about, Jaeger?"

The kid has the decency to at least look sorry. "Puberty."

"Bullshit. Real reason."

The brunette slumps into the seat in front of the desk—he's there so often, it might as well belong to him. "Nothing important."

"It's never 'nothing' with you." Levi levels his gaze at Eren and watches at the teenager's mixed emotions play across his face. "Don't be a shit with me, Eren."

Eren mumbles. "They were talking about my mom."

Levi clicks his tongue. "Don't let their shit-talking phase you. They aren't worth it."

"I know, sir." The teen looks down at his bruised, burned palms before looking back up at his instructor, nearly guilty. "I shouldn't have done anything."

After another long sip, Levi sighs. "You know I have to punish you, right?"

"Yes, sir."

After a moment of nearly comfortable silence, Levi speaks, sounding pleased with himself. "Talk to Kirschtein." Eren looks up, startled and almost angry. "Don't worry, you're also suspended for fighting for two days. You get two days to mull through your thoughts before you spill your guts."

"I don't like him." The teen stands up, seething. "I'll clean the bathrooms, do community service, or whatever  _else_  you want, but I don't want to sit around and be judged by some asshole who won't speak to me because of whatever stupid rumors he's heard."

"You want your weekends free, right?" Levi plays a dangerous card, and Eren curls his fists on the instructor's desk. "Then play along, for once in your sorry life. I'm not asking for something that hard.  _Do_  it."

Begrudgingly, Eren's fists move from the desk and fall to his sides, but his nails dig deeper into his scabbing palms as he closes his eyes and turns for the door. "Yes, sir."

/ /

After two days of Eren's absence, Jean thinks about the kid in Power Experiments class. Jean's power is hard to test because it's not exactly tangible. Then again, most teens in the Passive class are the same way, but their instructors force the possibilities out somehow.

Magnetism is the name given to Jean's power. When he was young, he had felt a strong pull to some people, and a strong repulsion from others. There had been a time in primary that he'd pushed a fellow student from the top of the slide to the other side of the playground, the repelling force between them had been so strong. The kid had cried, Jean had been horrified about the reaction, and his parents had promptly enrolled him into an institute for those with abilities.

To this day, he isn't entirely sure how the  _force_  works – he'd rather liked the classmate whose leg he had broken, and he's felt drawn to people he hates. Mostly, he doesn't like the way his power affects his judgment and his life, so he represses it. The Academy prefers the term 'control', but Jean is hardly ever in the mood to use his power.

Instructor Hannes calls him forward and asks whether he would like to briefly demonstrate his power to the class. The teen recalls that participation counts for a large portion of their grade in Experiments. Jean thinks of Eren, with his unknown power, and snorts.

 _No wonder he won't go to class_. Jean focuses hard on undoing all his hard work, but only the slightest bit. It's been a long time since he's had full reign over his powers and he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. When a girl on the first row shifts a little closer to him despite remaining seated and a boy in the back gets pushed toward the wall, his instructor raises a hand for him to stop, jots down a few notes, and Jean represses his power yet again.

"Well done," Hannes grins and Jean sweats, exhausted. When he slumps back into his seat, he hopes that he has enough money to buy a big lunch.

/ /

Eren waits for him at their usual table in the courtyard, already eating his lunch. Without ceremony, he speaks around a mouthful of broccoli. "Fire and healing."

Jean blinks, putting his tray down. "What?"

"My powers." Jaeger opens a bottle of water and takes a swig.

The other teen snorts. "There's no history of elemental powers, or of people having two powers."

"I'm aware." Eren challenges with a glare, and Jean sighs, picking up his fork and digging into his chicken.

"You're just lying so I'll stop asking and I won't have to babysit you anymore."

A hand slams on the table and Jean nearly chokes on a mouthful of peas. "I'm not  _lying_."

"So show me then," he challenges and Eren stands up. For a brief moment, Jean thinks he might get punched and a small part of him thinks he might deserve it.

"I can't," Eren spits, sounding disappointed with him.

Jean is annoyed at his tone. "Why not?"

When he whirls around, blue-green eyes burning with anger, Jean's mouth goes dry. "I thought you liked listening to people talk about me."  _No control of his power. Violent. No friends._   _Bad family. Dangerous._  "I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Jean stops Eren, surprising both of them when he grabs the shorter male's wrist and is just surprised to find the skin of his fingers literally bubbling. Eren hisses, grabbing his hand again and making it normal.

"Don't  _ever_ touch me!" A moment after his declaration, the teen slips away.

Jean falls into his seat, his mind blank. Once he regains his senses, fingers trembling, he laughs hysterically.

/ /

When he sees Connie and Sasha in history the following day, he pulls them aside and whispers, "Have you guys ever heard about people having elemental powers?"

They share a look and shrug. "Only in fairytales, Jean," Connie shakes his head with a grin. "What, you want one? Too bad, magnet boy."

"Shut up," Jean mutters harmlessly. After a pause, Sasha blinks her big eyes at him.

"Why're you so jittery, anyways?"

"What?" He clams up, defensive. "I'm not."

Connie rolls his eyes. "Chill. We're not gonna rat you to the instructor for a little daydreaming."

Jean is full of nervous energy. It's the last day of the week, and he's not entirely sure how to act around Eren anymore. When he bursts out of class and stumbles into the courtyard, he finds the place empty and is mildly disappointed.

Even though his hand is fine now—he'd even gone to the doctor to check—he can still feel the burns under his skin.

/ /

Days pass after the incident, and Eren traps himself in self-loathing. Mikasa comes over, brushes his hair, and swears that she'll take care of anyone if he needs her to. Armin helps him stay up to date with his studies, even though Eren only listens half of the time.

The nights are cool, and he sleeps with their bodies next to him, keeping them carefully warm. Only when they are together can he stop the thumping between his ears, keep his powers under control. They leave their homes to protect him, leaving his place only to go to school, and coming back every evening. Eren would be infuriated to know their reasoning, so they make up excuses to stay and he grumbles, allowing it.

Mikasa and Armin  _like_  coming over, anyways. They are also outcasts, in a way, and when Eren is within their grasps, safe and sound, they're more relaxed, too.

/ /

Eren doesn't come to school, which means he  _certainly_  doesn't have lunch with Jean.

After the twelfth day of Eren's absence, Levi bursts into Jean's mathematics lesson on a Tuesday morning and drags him out screaming. The professor even has the gall to close the door behind them and go back to the lesson like nothing happens.

Levi punches Jean squarely in the jaw, barely blinking. Clutching his cheek with tears in his eyes, he looks up at the instructor, glaring. The man murmurs, "That's for whatever you did to keep him from showing up." Jean looks down, shaking with anger and frustration. After a pause, Levi shoves a piece of paper in his face. " _This_  is his address. Drag him back here if you have to."

The teenager looks up with a heated gaze and asks a question he's been meaning to ask for a while. "Why me?"

"Because you're not trashy enough to make those baseless rumors worse, and you've never asked him why he's fucked in the head. Now go. I've already got permission from your instructors. Your afternoon is free."

Jean picks himself off of the floor and is surprised to see that he would run so fast to figure out what Jaeger's been up to.

/ /

The teenager at the door can hear people yelling and noises of someone bounding down the steps before Eren opens the door in a t-shirt and boxers. His hair is a mess, and crumbs are around his mouth. He slams the door closed as soon as he sees who's on the other side.

Jean pounds the door, thoroughly pissed now. "Jaeger, you shit! Open the door!"

"Technically, this is my house, and I can do whatever I want."

Mikasa yells down the steps. "Who's at the door, Eren?"

"Nobody!"

"Nobody my ass," Jean slams his fist against the door. "I just want to talk to you. I can do it through the door, but something tells me you don't want your neighbors to hear what I'm gonna say."

Armin turns around the corner and peeks out of the window. "Some guy, Mikasa. Eren isn't saying anything."

"Why?" Eren finally speaks. The two other teens slowly creep closer to him, slightly fearful and paranoid. When the tannest of the three holds up a hand, the other two try to relax a bit. "Tired of having lunch by yourself?"

Jean can't think, and blurts out the first thing on his mind, hoping it'll work. "Because I'm tired of guessing whether the rumors are true or not, and you're not a liar."

Eren opens the door, and Jean falls on the floor.

/ /

Jean isn't sure what to think, sitting in the messy kitchen with three other teenagers. He glances at the other two – they couldn't be related to Eren, they look nothing alike. There's always the possibility that they could be adopted. What pisses Jean off is how handsome all three of them are.

Eren shoves some stuff off of the table so he can put one elbow on the table and glares at Jean; the other two look wary of him, too. "So, what did you want?"

After hesitating for a moment, Jean grumbles, "To apologize."

His schoolmate snorts. "You don't sound sincere at all."

"You  _did_  kind of burn the skin off my hand."

The girl narrows her eyes at Jean before giving Eren a wilting stare. The golden-haired young man also gives the brunette a look. Holding up his hands, Eren grumbles back. "Sorry. Accident. Besides, I fixed it, too."

Jean can't help snorting. "You don't sound sorry either."

"I'm not actually that sorry," Eren says, just before one of his companions kicks him and he bends over the table, glaring at the girl. "Ouch!"

Jean chuckles, mostly because Eren deserved that. "Look, I'll go now. Come back to school."

Suddenly, the brunette's face turns dark, and his bright eyes seem glossy. "I could hurt you again."

This time, he  _does_  look guilty and apologetic, which only makes the other teen feel awkward. "Don't worry about it."

When Jean leaves, he notices the other two hovering around Eren like little shields, touching his shoulders without flinching. His gaze lingers too long on turquoise eyes and the door closes between the two of them without his notice.


	2. dealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking at lunch proves to be more exciting than listening to the birds chirp loudly enough to drive anyone crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too lazy for a real update schedule and I really wanna start uploading the sequel to this. Enjoy!!

Jean finds him sitting at the table and thuds into his seat. "Tell me about your siblings."

The brunette raises an eyebrow, suspicious of him. "Why?"

He shrugs. "Your sister's hot."

Eren looks disgusted. "Now I'm definitely not telling you."

Jean levels his gaze as he picks an apple off of the tray. "Then tell me about your powers."

After a pause, Eren sighs. "What am I supposed to say? You know how it goes."

The power awakening process is common, so yes, he does. "Woke up one day, set something on fire, then fixed it?"

"Almost," the brunette opens his water bottle and takes a swig. "I can't heal inanimate objects, so I set my whole house on fire."

"Shit," Jean murmurs around a mouthful of potatoes. "Guessing you found out about the healing thing on yourself, huh?"

"Yeah," Eren stretches his leg and bumps the blonde's ankles. "I didn't really know it worked on others until later. It's not very strong most times. If I'm lucky, it'll heal whatever I burned, but not much else."

When he studies Eren's expression, he murmurs, "Did you hurt someone else? When you set your room on fire, I mean." There's no answer, so Jean exhales slowly and admits, "I did, when my power surfaced. I felt like shit about it for months."

Sea-colored eyes flick up and a smaller voice comes from him than Jean had been expecting. "Yeah."

Refusing to apologize for no reason because he hates when people do that, he says, "Okay," and finishes his lunch in silence.

/ /

"I'm assigning you twice the amount of homework," Levi says, slamming a stack of papers down on his desk. "If you don't do it, I'll hang your sorry ass from the flagpole by the strings of a thong."

Eren grimaces, dutifully taking the stack. "Understood, sir."

The instructor gives him a hard look and his shoulders fall. "Do  _not_  do that again. Send me a message. No more going AWOL. I let you get away with a lot of shit, but not that."

He lowers his head and tries not to let his voice crack too badly. "I'm sorry, sir."

Levi closes his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "As long as you understand."

/ /

Eren throws a granola bar at him once they're both seated. "Peace offering," he mutters.

"Thanks, I guess." They sit in companionable silence for a while before Jean coughs on his milk and quietly asks, "Do you want to hear about my power?"

Sharp eyes flick up at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Then no."

Jean sits quietly for another few minutes before saying, "I  _do_  want to vent about my friends. Since I don't eat lunch with them anymore, they've been whining."

Eren snorts, half-smiling around a forkful of pasta. "Then do that. Better than sitting here listening to the birds."

"They annoy you too?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

It's the best break hour he's had in a long time.

/ /

His father is home when he comes back. "I'm going to the hospital."

Eren stares at him, struggling to express himself and failing. "Okay."

The man pauses. "Where are Mikasa and Armin?"

"Home today."

They stare at each other, both waiting with baited breath. "Do you want to come with me?"

 _Yes,_ he thinks _, more than anything. Please, take me with you. Take me out of here._   _I can't stay in this house by myself._ "No," he says.

In the uncomfortable silence, the man shifts on his feet, and waits another moment, fully expecting Eren to change his mind. When he doesn't, he sighs and turns for the door. "Okay."

/ /

In Ancient Literature and Mythologies class, Jean stumbles across a pair of girls giggling amongst themselves.

"Did you hear? The Jaeger kid is on suspension again."

"No way! Another fight?"

"They say this one happened at the grocery store. Isn't it scary? Imagine what would happened if he turned on you next. You could just be minding your own business, then he'd come up to you and threaten you!"

Jean gets annoyed and says, "He wouldn't start a fight for no reason." He doesn't mention that Eren would probably be too worried about burning them to throw punches. "Stop buying into that crap."

"What's with  _you_?" One girl titters. "If you wanna hang around with a guy like that, you'll lose all your friends fast, Kirschtein."

"You people aren't my friends," he mutters before storming off.

/ /

Eren winces around a mouthful of food. Jean can tell it's because of a cut in his mouth, because he looks like shit overall.

"So?"

Turquoise eyes flick up. "So what?"

Brown eyes look down for a moment as he opens his bag of plastic utensils. "What happened?"

He scoffs. "Word gets out so fast at this stupid academy."

Jean treads lightly. "Don't wanna talk about it?"

He averts his eyes. "It was dumb."

"How dumb?" One eyebrow is raised.

"…They talked about somebody's hair."

"Wow, that is dumb."

Indignantly, Eren mutters, "He has leukemia."

"That was shitty of them."

Eren studies Jean for a moment before putting down his sandwich and resting his head on the table. "Armin."

He blinks, confused. "What?"

"Not what, who," The other teenager grouses. "My friend. The blonde one."

Jean is startled. "The one who was at your house?"

"Yes," Eren hisses impatiently. "No, we're not related, and yes, I have friends."

"To be honest, I always thought that was the stupidest rumor." Jean shrugs. "I figure even a loser like you has to have  _one_  friend." Eren sits up, punches him in the shoulder, and it doesn't burn. For a moment afterwards, he panics, but Jean is laughing, so he stops. "Hey, what do you know? You can even take jokes."

Eren steps back and starts laughing too, pressing his palms against his closed eyes and shaking slightly. "What do you know."

/ /

Her husband can't look her in the eye anymore.

Her son is terrified of coming to see her.

It's lonely.

She smiles anyways, always hoping.

/ /

"It's been proven that you  _can_  touch people without setting them on fire, so let's do control practice."

Eren drops his bagged lunch on the ground in shock. "What."

Jean cocks his head. "You heard me. C'mon, do your worst."

"No." He turns on his heel to stomp off, but Jean stands in front of him, arms outstretched. "Go away."

"Make me."

"No!" Eren digs his heel in the dirt, eyes narrow and a scowl etched deep on his face.

"Are you afraid of me?" Jean taunts. "Think my power is so special I can wipe the floor with you in two seconds?"

"No, you egocentric piece of shit," He breathes, feeling his blood boil. "Get out of my way, Jean."

"No."

"I'm not dealing with this."

Jean runs to tackle him before he can stop, biting back a scream at the pain.  _Bad idea. Terrible,_ he thinks, brain running on autopilot and yelling at him to get ten feet away from Eren. His power repression unravels as the burns start to reach second-degree stage. Distantly, he hears Eren screaming at him, trying to peel his hands off and heal him all the same.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" He finally registers words as a hot palm burns his back. He forces his power to glue him to Eren. Even when he gets kicked away, he draws them together again even though all he wants to do is  _repel, repel, repel_. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Dealing," Jean wheezes, eyes full of tears as the olive-skinned teen shakes and tries his best to fix what he's ruined.

/ /

Instructors Hannes and Levi stare at their pupils, one man with mirth in his eyes, and the other with murder.

"Well," Hannes begins, almost laughing. "There were positive results for both of you. You've both learned more about your powers, and the two of you can work on your control together."

Jean opens his mouth to say that he's been doing a fine job of controlling his power all along, but Levi fixes him with a sharp look and he smartly closes his mouth.

"When's your Power Experiments class, brat?"

"Mondays and Wednesdays, first block."

Levi scribbles a memo and glances at Hannes. "I'm making it an extra free period. Practice with Eren every once in a while."

Hannes groans. "You can't just bulldoze through everything."

"Sure I can."

The taller man grumbles. "Make every other week free period. I still need him in my class, to make sure he interacts with other  _Passive_  students, and so I can record his progress."

"Deal."

/ /

Mikasa comes over, running her fingers over Eren's scalp. "Where's Armin?"

"He has checkups today." Eren is unsettled, and he uncharacteristically leans into her touch. "He's strong. You know that. He's almost over the worst of it."

"What about you?"

She flicks him in the forehead and he winces. "You're nowhere near strong enough to worry about me."

Leaning against her, he breathes out softly. "I know."

After a pause, she whispers, "Don't go anywhere, Eren."

"…I won't."

/ /

"My back still stings," Jean murmurs. "Why did you heal everything except that?"

"I was exhausted and you were being a piece of shit," Eren heaves a breath, rolling over on his side. "You slammed me into the wall."

"I'm not used to forcing my power to go against its… _will_ , sort of?"

"What?"

"Magnetism," Jean explains, pushing himself off of the ground on wobbly arms. "Usually, my body sort of decides whether it wants to push or pull a person. Unconsciously, I mean. I was scared shitless the first time I stopped you, so I wanted to repel, but I think we're drawn together naturally."

"That sounds really gross when you explain it like that."

"Don't make it weird!"

"I didn't mean to. Magnetism, huh?" The brunette gazes into the distance. "That sounds hard to deal with."

His skin tingles because he's so far from the other teen. "I don't, most times."

Eren grimaces. "What makes you any better than me, then?"

Jean stares off, pulling his power back under the surface while he still can. "Nothing, I guess. Isn't that why your Spartan instructor put us together?"

"Levi?" When the sandy-haired teen nods, Eren looks off-put. "I know he has my best interests in mind, but honestly, I don't know why he does anything."

At that, Jean laughs horrendously.

/ /

She asks, "How is he doing in school?"

"Better these days," He answers quietly, facing the window. "His instructor sent me a message, requesting a meeting with us."

"Alright. Would it make them terribly uncomfortable to do it in a hospital?"

"I don't think he would mind."

"That settles that, then. Tell him that Wednesdays are best for me."

"Alright."

"Tell Eren I miss him, and I love him."

He pushes his glasses up and replies, "I will, Carla."

/ /

Jean flicks him in the head. "What are you daydreaming about?"

"The past," Eren mutters back through a spoonful of mixed vegetables.

"And  _that_  is my cue to ignore you and go back to eating my lunch."

Snorting, he replies, "You're kind of an asshole."

"Congrats," Jean replies, "on figuring that out, at long last."

/ /

The test is simple enough. There are a few targets, all of them fire-retardant. He just has to hit them, then go for a brief stint in the nurse's office and see what the range of his healing is—without burning anyone, of course.

He hits maybe fifty-percent of the targets, a vast improvement from his last examination. Better still, he never sets himself on fire, and when Levi startles him by coming up behind him and laying a hand on his shoulder, he doesn't set his instructor on fire either.

"Rejoice." Eren is breathing heavily and is on the verge of passing out. "You didn't fail your first exam for once in your life."

"I would," He pants, "feel a lot better about that…if I didn't think…you were about to push me even further, sir."

"Good guess."

/ /

" _You want to use your power for_ _ **good**_ _and_ _ **safety**_ _? You? You almost killed your mother, you sick sack of shit—"_

 _A punch lands squarely in his jaw, burning his lips and knocking out one of his teeth. He snarls against people who hold him back, steam rolling off of his skin. "Shut up, shut_ _ **up** _ _, nobody asked you—!"_

" _See! Who are you protecting, Eren?!" The offender yells, crying in pain. "Yourself?! Jaeger, you're out of your mind. Eren! Eren!"_

"Eren!" He starts awake in a sweat, jumping back from whoever is about to touch him. "Shit, you scared me. School's out, you know." Eren shakily picks himself up and bunches in on himself. Jean scowls in his general direction. "What the hell made you regress so badly?"

"Nothing," Jaeger insists, shaking his hand off. It burns a little and Jean blinks, startled.

After he's gone, Jean kicks the wall lightly in frustration. "I didn't want to hear about your stupid nightmare anyways."

/ /

He curls up in Armin's bed without permission. Although he doesn't burn him – he would  _never_  – his skin is running an uncomfortably hot temperature next to the thin-haired blonde. Armin lets him stay, even though he has to kick off the covers to regulate.

"It was an accident, Eren," he assures him, as he has done for many years. "It wasn't your fault."

"I'm sorry," Eren cries into his shirt. "I'm going to fix this place, I swear it, I  _swear_ , I'll make up for everything."

"She wouldn't blame you either."

His crying goes quiet and Eren murmurs, "You don't know that."

Armin says nothing else, because that's true.

/ /

Their lunches are silent again. Rumors fly around more rampantly than usual. Judging by the number of bruises on Eren's arm, he got the shit beaten out of him and he hadn't even lifted a finger.

After a couple days of the torture, Jean finally slams his hands down on the table. "Tell me about your family."

"This is the last rumor you have to dispel?"

"This is the last piece of shit that's blocking your power control."

"I don't want to."

"You need to."

"You can't tell me what I  _need_ , Kirschtein."

"I can and I did. You're being so pathetic right now; I have no idea who you are. C'mon, who are you?"

"You know already."

"Really? Do I? Come on, say it."

"Eren."

"Eren what?"

"You know my last name."

"Eren  _what_!"

"Eren Jaeger, you prick!"

"Oh yeah? Who gave you that name? What was it again? Something about  _yay…_ "

"Jaeger! Eren Jaeger! It's Turkish and German. The holy hunter."

"Who knows that much about the origin of their name, huh?!"

"Me, you dick! My mom's Turkish and she stressed over it for a long time!"

"You're no hunter, you're a  _rat_! Your mom made a  _mistake._ "

A fist finally flies, headed for Jean's chest. Eren is snarling and tears are flying down his face. "Shut up! You think I don't fucking know that? I know I'm a mistake. I ruined my mother's life. Are you happy? Are you  _fucking happy now_ , Kirschtein?!"

The cogs in Jean's brain turn and he grows quiet. "The person you hurt back then was your mom?"

Eren sobs over him, pounding powerless fists against his chest. "Yes."

"What about your dad?"

Curling in on himself, the brunette murmurs, "He wasn't home when it happened. We don't speak much anymore."

"Is she…?"

"She's hospitalized. Permanently." Eren wipes his face, turning the tears into steam as soon as they roll. "I can't see her. I won't."

Jean gapes, glaring at him. "You're a fucking moron. You've never gone to see your mother in the hospital? How old were you when this happened?"

"…Three."

"You haven't seen your mother in fourteen years?" Jean shakes his shoulders. "Go! Go  _right now_."

"I  _can't_ ," Eren snarls. He grabs Jean's shirt and lays him ons the ground, steam pouring off of his body as his temperature rises. "I promised I wouldn't see her until I changed things."

"Maybe you haven't changed anything drastic, but  _you've_ changed, haven't you?" Jean breathes out shakily, trying not to wince at the burning welts Eren is leaving on his collar. "If you don't do anything, you'll regret it forever, I promise you."

He glares. "You don't know that."

"Eren, my dad died when I was twelve. I  _do_."

He grows weak and his clutch loosens. "Jean, I can't.

"Maybe you can't today, but do it soon. Go with your friends."

Eren punches him lightly. "You're so fucking arrogant. Who do you think you are?"

"Jean Kirschtein, the unlucky bastard who's saving your neurotic ass."

/ /

After an afternoon of community service, fixing water heaters and old furnaces, running around town, he grabs Mikasa and Armin's hands, swallows, and drags them along, saying nothing.

They squeeze back and somehow, he knows they understand.

/ /

Levi smokes a cigarette with a colleague, contented. "I ought to give the Kirschtein kid a medal."

Erwin raises an eyebrow through the smoke. "As instructors, it's our duty not to show favoritism to students."

"You know damn well I broke that rule years ago."

"You could at least be courteous enough to stick to one student, then, Levi."

Blowing a neat smoke circle out and leaning on the veranda's banister, his eyes light up. "Courtesy is for people who give a shit. Fortunately, I don't."

/ /

Lunch is mostly passed with quiet, stupid conversations for the rest of the year. At some point, control comes back into question, and they have a fairly calm chat, all things considered.

"What do you think you'll do in Power Experiments for your last year?" Eren starts, chewing mushrooms.

"What I've been doing for most of my compulsory education," Jean answers, picking sesame seeds out of his teeth. "Repressing my power, mostly. It's a passive, so it doesn't inhibit my everyday life." Once he gets a loose seed, he takes another bite of his burger. "You?"

"You think the academy will be kind enough to put in a classroom full of ticking time bombs when I'm an unknown? Please."

" _That's_  why you never have class? Shit, I want to be an unpredictable."

Eren rolls his eyes.

He never says thanks, and he never says bye.

Jean, on the other hand, says, "Tell your hot sister I say hi."

Eren flips him the bird and walks off. They don't eat lunch together again.

Still, the world of power-users is small. Jean's sure, if Eren's still on his stupid world-changing mission, he'll run into him some way or another.

Fate is funny that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [_Schemata_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3791065/): If he's lucky, he can reel the guy in quickly. He's already got a good grasp on his signature, and his control over his magnetism has only improved with time. _Come on_ , he thinks. _Follow the pull._


End file.
